Update on February 6th

We had good news on Thursday, February 3rd.  Gary's tumor marker has dropped from 693 to 351.  We don't really know what that means but we will take it.  He has also gained about 5 pounds.  We don't understand that either because he still has a lot of nausea and has troubling eating very much.  But any good news is good.  Starting tomorrow, he will have a chemo treatment on Mondays for 3 weeks then off a week.  About the middle of March, they will be taking another CT scan to actually see what the tumor is doing. Also on March 17th, he is scheduled to have the stint in his bile duct replaced by Dr Woodall in Springfield.  The one he put in first was plastic and is only supposed to be left in for three months.  They will probably later put in a permanent stint.

I thought I would tell you all the medications he is taking and what each one is for so you have an idea of what his daily routine is.  Our kitchen counter where I usually prepare food for our meals is now a pharmacy counter.  Medications all over the place.  Here is Gary's daily routine (without the trips to the bathroom):
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Morning Only 

• Test his blood sugar
• Give himself an insulin shot
• Take a dose of appetite stimulus (Megestrol Acetate).

Before eating each meal

• Take an anti-nausea tablet (Prochlorperazine)
• Take a pain pill (Oxycodine)
• Take an anti-acid stomach pill (Nexium)
• Take another pill that I can't remember what it is for (Famotidine)

Eat a meal

• Take a pill to make the stomach digest his food ( Creon)
• Take a dose of potassium (Potassium Chloride) with a full glass of juice. 

Sleep
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The pain medication above (Oxycodine) is in addition to a high dosage pain patch that he wears for 3 days before he changes it (Fentanyl).  They started the potassium this last week because his potassium levels were so low.  They gave him another dose of testosterone and will continue this once a week.  They also have given him hydration treatments for the last two weeks because he was so dehydrated.

The prescription that he does not take is the one for depression.  It was prescribed when he first started treatment but he has never taken it.  I think that speaks loudly about his fighter spirit, his champion attitude, and his spiritual peace.  Most people suffer depression when they deal with all the issues he is dealing with, but he keeps a stiff upper lip.  He is fighting through this much better than I had expected. 

It has amazed me how much a small tumor (and the necessary treatments) can wreck havoc on so much of a person's body.  It is like a domino effect.  When one organ can't do it's job, it affects another organ, then another, and so on. 

Thank you to everyone for your continued expressions of concern and prayers.  He reads every comment sent to him.  Thank you very much!!!

Till later.    Jannis